Total Game/Personal Awareness

Pressure can build both on and off the golf course. Take a minute to think about your personal coping strategies that you draw on under pressure. How do you operate under pressure, both good and bad.  Are you Negative,  Positive, Anxious, Calm, Panic, Focus, Rushing, Not Rushing, Loud, Quiet.

Do you maintain correct procedure through clubs, work on co‑ordination /flow, work on pre‑shot routine, and work on shapes, keep positive, good rhythm?

On course will you maintain a high self belief, shot choice involvement, focus, course management, positive/happy disposition, and get frustrated, impatient, give in, maintaining composure.  Off the course how do you respond?

It is more and more obvious that we are very caught up in the idea that if we continue to train the golf swing then we will see improvement.  It is not about the swing but more about playing the game to the best of your ability.

Training aspects of the golf swing or bits of the swing and then putting them into the swing can be a far more successful approach to practice.

Poor contact: Just stay on the range and hit more and more golf balls until eventually will improve (short term, constant practice) or create an environment to change that particular aspect of your swing and then after a period of training and drill work, test it and incorporate the technical changes into hitting some shots.

This type of aspect based training will see the athlete actually learn, develop and improve parts of the swing to allow them to hit better more consistent shots.

We are all time poor so let’s actually train with a purpose rather than just hitting balls on the range.

These are the two most important elements of putting.

It is essential to remember the longer the putt is the focus more on the speed and less on the line.  If you misjudge the line but have reasonable speed you will start to eliminate three putting.  Imagine a wide path to the hole with maximum break.  The speed is critical and approaching your long putts using this ideal will give you a better opportunity to make the second putt.  On the long putts your goal is to put the ball within tap in range, and that means distance control.

On short putts, focus less on the speed and more on the line and aim.

Whether it is a long or short put the length of your backswing will determine how fast the putter will move and therefore how far the ball will roll.  You are trying to create a pendulum which is an uninterrupted motion.  Control the speed with your backswing length.

Bounce is the angle of the sole of the club that hangs below the leading edge of the wedge.

If you look at the bottom of your sand wedge, you will see some extra tilting down and away from the leading edge of the front of the club face.  The bottom of the club is shaped differently to help it glide through the turf or sand without digging in too deeply.  The back edge of the sand wedge is the bounce, striking the turf or sand first so that the club skips instead of digging in.

If you struggle to get your ball out of the bunker and you find yourself playing around with your technique.  Try these 4 tips:

1. Hinge and turn –swing the club head not the grip, hinge the club head to the sky with sufficient turn of your chest and arms in your backswing.
2. Angle of attack – set your weight on your front leg and keep it there for the duration of the swing, hinge the club head.
3. Maintain the loft – once you set the loft, maintain it.
4. Rotate forward – big finish, you need to create speed, splash the sand out of the bunker onto the putting surface.  If you can move the sand a long distance then you should be able to get the ball out.

Bunker shots require a free swing of the club head not the arms.  Swinging the grip more than the club head will Continue Reading→

Attitude is everything! Many experts believe it is careful and premeditated preparation that allows a golfer to experience a mental edge in recreational or tournament play. What you say, what you think and how you act all contribute to your state of mind, and therefore Continue Reading→

Like any exercise program, the best programs are individualized based on the specific needs of the person undertaking the exercise.

In saying that, the best exercises for golf would address both flexibility and strength, and would have the following goals:

1. Provide adequate flexibility of the hips to allow the rotation of the trunk over the hips in the backswing and the follow-through
2. Provide adequate flexibility in the upper back to allow the torso to rotate over a fixed, stable lower body
3. Provide strength in the posterior hip muscles to provide a stable lower body for the trunk to rotate over in the backswing, and to allow a firm lead side for you to hit against in the follow-through
4. Provide strength of the deep abdominal and core stabilising muscles to stabilise the spine and dissipate the forces that are generated during the swing, as well as helping you maintain your posture during your swing to help you keep your swing on the correct plane.
5. Provide strength in the muscles that stabilise your shoulder girdle, which includes the shoulder joint itself and the shoulder blades. This will allow you to keep your arms connected to your trunk, which allows efficient transfer of energy from your body, to your arms and ultimately to the club head.

Of course there are many more components to a comprehensive golf fitness program based on the needs of the individual; however these guidelines are an excellent start to establishing a golf fitness regime.

Source High Performance Golf

Like any sport, warming up prior to golf is very important to not only enhance performance but also to prevent injury. Warm-up prior to any athletic activity should include exercises aimed at activating the muscles that are important for the particular activity, as well as exercises that encourage the correct movement pattern for the activity.

Obviously there will be individual variations depending on any specific problem areas that you may have, however the following can be used as a guideline to an effective warm up prior to golf:

1. Start with a low intensity activity that involves muscles in both the upper and lower body. This may involve hitting a few chips or pitches, taking some slow swings with a wedge or 9-iron, or even performing some golf specific drills with or without a club. This will get blood flowing to these muscle groups and prepare you for the rest of your warm up.
2. Next perform some exercises that activate the muscles of the shoulder girdle, the muscles that stabilise the hips and the core muscles which stabilise the spine and trunk.
3. You should next perform some golf specific movement patterns that involve rotation of the trunk over a relatively fixed lower body. These can involve movements that include lunging, golf posture and even laying on the ground.
4. Finally, head to the range or practice net if available, and some shots starting with a wedge or 9-iron, and working gradually up to your Driver or whatever club you use off the tee.
5. Finish off with some putting or whatever else you wish to work on.

You are now ready to head to the first tee and feel comfortable that you have prepared your body to perform at its maximum potential!

Source High Performance Golf

Optimal Psychological State for Peak Performance

• Calm mind
• Physically and mentally relaxed
• Feeling in control: of self and performance
• Focus on present task/execution
• Total concentration
• Positive attitudes and thoughts of performing
• High self-confidence
• Absence of fear:  no fear or negative consequences
• Strongly determined and committed
• Experience was unique, automatic and seemed effortless while performing.

How?

Change our expectations.

You will without a doubt hit some bad shots during the course of your round.  You should, he best players in the world do.  The trick is to learn to dismiss them as soon as they happen and move on.  If you go into a round of golf knowing that at some stage you will hit some poor shots then when they do occur you are not so taken aback that you follow the poor shot up with a dumb shot.

You cannot change the shot or the outcome so the sooner you accept the shot and move on the less likely you will worry about it, let it bring you down, affect your confidence and create tentative play within your whole game.